TripAdvisor Top Performers, Caribbean Destination Edition, Part 1

Millions of travelers use TripAdvisor to plan their vacation, including help selecting a hotel.

In the Caribbean, this may involve choosing between several hotels on the same island or several hotels on different islands. TripAdvisor therefore has the ability to help increase a hotel’s occupancy and an island’s air arrivals.

Our recent analysis on the top travel review site showed interesting findings related to 5-star hotels in the Caribbean. While these hotels may not be delivering traditional Michelin 5-star service, they are providing guests with something even more important today – a 5-star vacation experience.

With TripAdvisor being so critically important to travelers, destinations and hotels, our analysis uncovered:

Which Caribbean islands have the greatest number of hotels with 5-star TripAdvisor ratings

Which Caribbean hotels have earned 5-star TripAdvisor ratings

In conducting our research on 5-star TripAdvisor hotels in the Caribbean, a number of interesting observations were made about the destinations. Key findings include:

TripAdvisor rates a total of 29 countries and nearly 2,500 hotels in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Bermuda.

There are 18 island nations (including Cuba) with at least one 5-star rated hotel. Conversely, 11 Caribbean countries are without a single 5-star rated property.

Only 53 hotels in the entire region carry a 5-star TripAdvisor rating. The top-rated hotels account for only 2.2% of total Caribbean hotel inventory and 3.5% of hotels on islands with at least one 5-star property.

Jamaica is the island destination with the most TripAdvisor 5-star hotels with 10 out of 293 properties.

Three island nations have six 5-star hotels, including Turks & Caicos, The Bahamas and surprisingly, the tiny and relatively undiscovered island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic).

Dominica also has the highest percentage of hotels with 5-star ratings – a total of 35.3%! Although relatively new to tourism, Dominica is making quite a splash with visitors by providing genuine island hospitality and an authentic Caribbean experience according to the reviews. St. Kitts and Nevis comes in second with 11.1% of its hotels (2 of 18) rated as 5-star (both are located on Nevis).

As travelers plan a Caribbean vacation, these islands – and the 5-star rated hotels – certainly stand to benefit given the high ratings on TripAdvisor.

Congratulations to the islands with the highest number of hotels and highest percentage of hotels delivering a 5-star TripAdvisor guest experience. It reflects well not only on the property, but also on the tourism industry throughout the island.

So, what Caribbean hotels by island earned 5-star TripAdvisor ratings? Stay tuned to find out. The answer will be posted here later this week.

*Analysis based on data gathered the week of July 29, 2013. For the purposes of our research, only hotels with 5-star ratings and at least 90 reviews are included.”